Okay, I may be repeating myself, but can someone please comment on how to handle an enclosed entry to a house that is ELEVATED above a lower enclosure but still below the base flood? My take is that that is the "next higher floor", even though it's not a room, per se.
C2(A) slab elevation, enclosed and now vented
C2 (B) Finished Floor of the enclosed Entry
C2(C) Bottom of Structural Member below enclosed entry
Note in the comments that the main living area of the house is at +x.xx Elevation, NAVD 88 Datum.
To make matters more interesting, this house was built when the Zone was AE BFE of 9' (NGVD 29) and is now in a VE Zone, BFE of 12 (NAVD 88)
Local shift from 29 to 88 is Negative 1.2 feet.
It appears that the difference in flood insurance for a year is something like $30,000!!!
I get from reading the description of a building diagram #7 that (b) is supposed to be an elevated floor of "principal use". I have always noted the garage fllor or enclosure as (a), the "living floor" as (b), and made a note that explained this, and that there is a foyer of X sq.ft. at elevation Y. I've been told before by building inspectors that a finished foyer of less than 400 sq. ft. is allowed by FEMA, but I've never seen that in writing. When a building doesn't fit exactly into a building diagram, I try to use the notes section to explain exactly what's there, what I did, and cover my butt.
Also, don't forget that homes which are affected by the change of map's BFE & NAVD/NGVD diffence are "grandfathered" in under the BFE/Datum they were built under. In these case, I also note the original NGVD elevation / BFE in the notes, and provide a copy of the FEMA "grandfather" rules with the elevation certificate.
http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=3745
You can also always call FEMA and ask.
> You can also always call FEMA and ask.
And Take Lots of Pictures- Remember as a surveyor you are reporting the facts.
Others determine the insurance liability.
Thanks for the link, I'll be digging into that later. A quick search of the EC instructions PDF for "principal use" resulted in 0 hits. 🙁
Building type for this house is #6.
Page 9 of the instructions:
DIAGRAM 7
All buildings elevated on full-story foundation walls
with a partially or fully enclosed area below the
elevated floor. This includes walkout levels, where at
least one side is at or above grade. The principal use
of this building is located in the elevated floors of the
building.
Of course, since your's is a 6, that may not apply.
My take is that for 6 or 7, (b) is supposed to be the lowest living area. Anything below that is an enclosure below the elevated floor. In your case, your enclosure below the elevated floor has two levels (which is common), but that doesn't fit into the elev. cert form. Put, again, good pictures and good notes ...